Todd Winkler: The case against man who killed wife with scissors

Feb. 27, 2012

Todd and Rachel Winkler's home in Cameron Park, Calif. On Feb. 27, 2012, police responded to a 911 call placed by a neighbor. When they arrived they encountered Todd Winkler on the front steps. He told them his wife Rachel was dead inside the house.

The Winklers

In 2011, Todd and Rachel had been married for six years and had three children: their youngest Alex, Eva their oldest, and Ariel their middle child.

Credit: Shannon Thurman

The Scissors

Under questioning, Todd Winkler told investigators that following an argument Rachel attacked him with these scissors. According to Todd, a vicious struggle ensued, during which he gained control of the scissors and plunged them into his wife's neck.

Credit: El Dorado County Courthouse

"Kill or be Killed"

Photographs taken by the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office of Todd Winkler show the wounds he claims he received in his self-described "kill or be killed" struggle with his wife.

Credit: El Dorado County Courthouse

Charged with Murder

The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office questioned Winkler for more than hour, after which he was arrested and charged with the murder of Rachel Winkler. He is seen here attending a hearing in October 2012.

Wedding Day

Todd and Rachel Winkler at their wedding celebration in 2005. Todd was a former F-16 fighter pilot and a successful pharmaceutical executive. No one could imagine the trouble that was to come in a few years' time.

Credit: Don Hatfield

A New Love

By the time Rachel Winkler met James White, four years after her marriage to Todd, she said she was neglected and virtually abandoned by her husband. Some months later the two began an affair.

White told "48 Hours" that the day before Rachel was murdered, she told him she was going to tell Todd she was leaving him.

Credit: James White

Murder Trial Begins

On Sept. 23, 2014, the first day of the Winkler murder trial, El Dorado County Deputy District Attorney Lisette Suder described Todd as "a mastermind, a manipulator, [and] a murderer."

Credit: 48 Hours

Bizarre Courtroom Outburst

In the middle of prosecutor Lisette Suder's opening statements, Todd Winkler exploded and flew into a bizarre rage, slapping his head and screaming in a foreign accent "You are not Samurai! You do not speak truth!" His outburst brought the trial to a temporary halt.

Credit: 48 Hours

The Fighting Samurai

Todd Winkler had apparently become obsessed with Samurai, likely dating back to when he was an F-16 fighter pilot stationed in Japan. This is the insignia of the 14th Fighter Squadron, known as the "Fighting Samurai," to which Winkler was assigned.

Credit: Department of Defense

A History of Erratic Behavior

Todd Winkler's attorney David Weiner brought up his client's history of psychiatric disorders, dating back to when Winkler was in the Air Force.

Credit: 48 Hours

Two Dead Wives

Prosecutor Lisette Suder also told the jury that Rachel wasn't the first wife of Todd's to have died tragically.

Credit: 48 Hours

A Previous Wife

Todd's previous wife was Catherine Winkler (nee Carlisle), whom he married in 1991, while he was still on active duty. They initially lived together in Japan, where Todd was stationed, before eventually moving to Georgia in 1997.

Credit: Christina Carlisle

Fatal Crash

On Sept. 26, 1999, Catherine Winkler was killed in a car accident while camping in the Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia.

Todd Winkler told investigators that he was having a severe allergic reaction to a bug bite and that his wife was driving him to the hospital when she lost control of their truck and went off the side of a ravine.

Winkler never showed investigators the bug bite.

Credit: El Dorado County Courthouse

Fatal Crash

Todd Winkler said he was thrown clear of the vehicle as it plunged down a steep hill and burst into flames, killing his wife Catherine.

A subsequent investigation ruled this crash an accident.

Credit: El Dorado County Courthouse

In Defense of Winkler

Some of the original investigators into Catherine Winkler's accident, however, have lingering doubts about Todd Winkler's account of the Georgia crash.

Winkler Takes the Stand

Todd Winker spent two and a half days on the stand, where he admitted to killing his wife Rachel- and even confessed to wanting her to die- but argued he killed her in self-defense.

Credit: Sacramento Bee/ZUMAPress.com

Justice for Rachel

On Oct. 22, 2014, after 12 days of testimony, Todd Winkler was found guilty of the murder of his wife, Rachel. Rachel's father, Don Hatfield, reacted with tears of relief after the reading of the verdict.

Credit: Sacramento Bee/ZUMAPress.com

Justice for Rachel

Todd Winkler is led away in shackles after being convicted of the first-degree murder of his wife, Rachel.